Fluorbuergerite

specimen number:
2133439

location:
Mexquitic, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

description:
Sharp lustrous crystal on matrix. Excellent thumbnail for this unusual member of the tourmaline group, the locality said to be long-lost.

The area near Mexquitic in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, is globally recognized in the geological and mineralogical community as the type locality for the rare tourmaline-group mineral fluor-buergerite. Geologically, the region features extensive Tertiary volcanic activity, where iron-rich vapors and hydrothermal fluids circulated through cavities and lithophysae within rhyolitic lava flows and tuffs. These unique chemical conditions allowed for the crystallization of iron-rich tourmaline. Historically, the occurrence gained scientific prominence following its initial description in the 1960s. Because the exact source location was obscured or lost for a period, specimens of these sharp, dark bronze-brown to black prismatic crystals lining volcanic cavities remain scarce and highly prized by mineral collectors.

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